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“You’re a real dummy.”
“I’m a dummy? No, you’re the dummy.”
I’m not a dummy. You’re a dummy.”
And so on.
It might sound familiar today if you roamed the halls of the local high school—or–it might offer a sense of familiarity when you think about Donald Trump and the ways in which he critiques the opposition, you know, the enemy from within.
Very simply, accuse him of being…. anything negative, and tomorrow you’ll be accused of it. If he listened to staff, as we all know, he would be talking about issues, or at least he might accuse the evil enemy of flaws that they might actually have. But no, he just looks in the mirror, sees his enemies coming at him, and accuses them of being flawed in his own image.
But let’s be specific here. I open up my news feed the other day and notice that Barack Obama is out on the campaign trial. Does Donald Trump stick to a critique of his predecessor that derives from reality or a pre-written script? Of course not. If Obama is criticizing him, the plat du jour is whatever he’s been accused of. It’s an easy game to play. Try to guess what Obama has been saying about Donald by listening to Donald’s criticism of him. The problem with Obama, asks Trump? He is the great divider. He should be uniting when he’s doing the opposite.
Ask the would-be king what some of Kamala Harris’s greatest flaws are, and you’ll hear over and over again, “She’s not very smart.” I wonder where he ever got that idea. More Trumpian criticism of Harris? “She’s corrupt” or “She doesn’t really care about women,” or my favorite: “She can’t give you a straight answer. She wanders all over the place.” Great stuff, Donald—very original and very high level. Your cognitive ability hasn’t deteriorated one bit.
Or perhaps we should harken back to Freud to understand this aspect of the Great Orange One. It begins with the term “projection.” Freud described it as the unconscious tendency to see one’s flaws in the other, thereby allowing the person not to see them in him or herself. But don’t get me started on Freud, because we could move on to other defense mechanisms he uses, beginning with denial and rationalization. Or we could note the total absence of a superego, or acknowledge the word salads that come out of his mouth, a sure sign, Freud told us, of schizophrenia.
Beyond that, Donald clearly exhibits identification with the aggressor, as befitting his adoration of dictators past and present. And last but hardly least, he is absolutely driven by narcissistic tendencies (Everything I do is perfect. I am the greatest), and has delusions of grandeur (I hear he has already drawn up plans for him to replace Lincoln on Mount Rushmore. After all, I’ve done a lot more for black people than he ever did).
But of course, this analysis wouldn’t be complete if we were to forget his one major defining trait, the one for which you don’t have to consult Freud. Donald Trump has no interest in the truth. He makes things up. He distorts and fabricates. He is, quite simply, an out-and-out liar.
Oh, what’s that you say, Mr. Trump? I’m a liar. Well, I certainly am not. If anyone’s a liar, you’re a liar.
And so it goes.
Can it be that millions of people may actually vote for this flawed individual????
